... I think it is time that I humbly submit for your approval. This is vintage though I have not researched it. It is Choun, founder of Choun kiln, father of Noutumi. The look is unmistakably from this kiln, but one day I will have to verify the dates, etc.

The set is supposedly 30-40 years old. The box is clearly quite aged. But the set was pristine, beautiful, and showed signs that it was earlier forms of this kiln's work. I don't know if it was ever used ...

Full tebineri (pinched, not wheeled). More photos of this are scattered around the forum tonight including TeaDay, the Crackle topic, the Hagi topic ...

This set includes a plate ... I never saw a plate with a gyokuro set previously.

Here is a nice old cup with a rather high foot. Hand painted in blue, this type of ware is often called "blue and white". It is about 2" across and the interior is all white. The Blue Swastika (wan) stands for infinite celestial virtues.

I would guess this cup is 19th c and japanese. I cannot read the mark, which might provide much more info and period and origin.

Thought I'd share a new vintage aquisition--well, I bought it around Thanksgiving, but it ended up being a Chistmas present to myself instead ... It's my first (and so far, only) Korean bun-cheong piece!

(I apologize for the poor lighting--the actual color of the bowl is a bit lighter, more of a sandy color.)

It was listed as vintage, though no specific date or artist was given--I'm also not 100 percent sure whether this is Korean or simply Korean-inspired Mishima ware (Japanese). It matches up to all the other examples I've seen of classic bun-cheong ware, though, and the patterning isn't nearly as crisp and clear as I've seen on modern pieces--given the limited timeframe in which this style was produced, it seems like it would have to be either from the 1392-1492 era (unlikely) or post-1955. Either way, I really do love this piece--it's very light in the hands, lovely to hold, and I love the inexact nature of the chrysanthemum patterning, which gives it a very abstract look. I also may not use it for matcha very much, simply because I love how brewed tea looks in it--

night.owl wrote:Oh my... this is absolutely stunning! What I would give for a set like that

Thanks!

Here is another vintage Hagi Gyokuro set ... this one is made by Zuiho Ono (spelled several ways). It is pretty rare to see anything from this artisan ... and a set is really hard to find. I cannot believe I was the only bidder on ths set.

Funny story (well was to me). Hide of Magokorodo out of the blue said I made a very good buy on this ebay purchase. I thought this was funny because I never mentioned it to him. Here he tracked my purchase via the feedbacks on my account.